For the Showdown, Kraft invited me and 2 other bloggers to duke it out. Picture American Idol meets Iron Chef and you’ve kind of got the idea. (Our secret ingredient? Breakstone’s sour cream.)

I picked pizza because it’s something that’s easy to throw together on a weeknight if you have dough on hand. (And if you don’t, grab a ball at your local market or pizza joint on the way home.) You can get pretty creative with ingredients–and you’re almost always guaranteed to have something you can use on hand.

Don’t believe me? Go take a peek in your fridge and come up with a pizza. (Leave a note in the comments below!) I’m bracing for that artichoke heart, bacon, and broccoli pizza. (Ya know, I’ll bet it would be delicious.)

The participating bloggers have a chance to win a cash prize (1st place is $350, 2nd place is $250, and 3rd place is $150).

Enter to win!

As part of the Holiday Showdown, you can enter win a handful of different prizes. If you enter, you’ll have a chance to win a $50 gift card (one winner each week).

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Whack the garlic head in half horizontally.

Put it in a small baking dish (paper and all) and drizzle with olive oil.

Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Roast for 25-40 minutes, until soft, golden brown, and fragrant. Remove from the oven & uncover the pan.

Yank the roasted garlic cloves out of the skin with a fork and put them in a small bowl.

Mash them into a paste in a small dish with a fork.

Strain the oil (that’s pure roasted garlic flavor), pop it in the fridge, and reserve it for another use. (Add to salad dressings, brush bread before toasting, rub a roasting chicken with it, you name it…)

Make the white sauce

Put the ricotta, Breakstone’s sour cream, and roasted garlic in a small dish. Whisk together until uniform. Set aside.

Assemble the pizza

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Roll the pizza dough out on a lightly floured board.

Transfer to an unlined, nonstick pizza pan. Stretch it out with your hands so it covers the whole pan.

Spread the dough evenly with the sour cream & roasted garlic mixture.

Sprinkle with a thin layer of Fontina.

Add a thin layer of baby spinach.

Sprinkle with another thin layer of Fontina. Dust with Parmesan cheese. I tossed on a little freshly cracked pepper, just for good measure. You get the idea. (Pizza is a great canvas. Don’t be afraid to improvise.)

Bake the pizza

Bake the pizza in your preheated, 500-degree oven for 10-12 minutes, until crisp and lightly browned.

Remove from the oven and slide it onto a wooden board. Slice and serve immediately.

Roast the garlic: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Whack the garlic head in half horizontally. Put it in a small baking dish (paper and all) and drizzle with olive oil. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Roast for 25-40 minutes, until soft, golden brown, and fragrant. Remove from the oven & uncover the pan. Yank the roasted garlic cloves out of the skin with a fork and put them in a small bowl. Mash them into a paste in a small dish with a fork. Strain the oil (that's pure roasted garlic flavor), pop it in the fridge, and reserve it for another use.

Make the white sauce: Put the ricotta, sour cream, and roasted garlic in a small dish. Whisk together until uniform. Set aside.

Assemble the pizza: Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Roll the pizza dough out on a lightly floured board. Transfer to an unlined, nonstick pizza pan. Stretch it out with your hands so it covers the whole pan. Spread the dough evenly with the sour cream & roasted garlic mixture. Sprinkle with a thin layer of Fontina. Add a thin layer of baby spinach. Sprinkle with another thin layer of Fontina. Dust with Parmesan cheese.Bake the pizza

Bake the pizza in your preheated, 500-degree oven for 10-12 minutes, until crisp and lightly browned.Remove from the oven and slide it onto a wooden board. Slice and serve immediately.

Related

Jessie Cross is a cookbook author and creator of The Hungry Mouse, a monster online food blog w/500+ recipes. When she's not shopping for cheese or baking pies, Jessie serves as an Associate Creative Director at PARTNERS+simons, a boutique ad agency in Boston. She lives in Salem, Massachusetts with her husband and two small, fluffy wolves.

13 COMMENTS

i can't wait to make this, my son will eat spinach without complaint so i'm always looking for ways to get some in him...he might rebel without the pepperoni, but I think the flavor will make up for that....just made your duck...btw it was totally fabulous and your directions and pictures are supberb, i will be visiting often...thank you for sharing : )

I was looking around the internet for food ideas and I found the contest for you three bloggers. Your recipe looked really good but I haven't tried it yet. Do you use a store bought recipe or make your own? What do you recommend? Thank you for your time.

[...] mom sent us a link to this great recipe website called The Hungry Mouse, we decided to make the Roasted Garlic and Spinach Pizza from the website for our dinner. It did not disappoint. the whole house smells like [...]

hi jessie!
i had to say, i was SO glad i logged into LJ for the first time in forever to see this still in my feed/friends list. i can't wait to make it. i *love* a good white pizza and i hardly ever get to have it. i'm not a spinach person (i actually don't eat any warm leafy greens, i'm terrible i know) so i 'll probably use artichokes, but as you pointed out that's the beauty of pizza :) i actually didn't think broccoli, bacon, and artichoke sounded weird at all, but my favorite pizza is pineapple and mushroom with a side of banana peppers and blue cheese dressing so i really have no right to comment, lol!! (don't worry, i don't make anyone else eat it :p)
anyway, thanks, i can't wait to try it! (i'm sure J will want his own loaded with pepperoni but that's fine, more for me!)

Made this last night. The sauce is excellent. I had regular spinach (not baby) so I used the leftover garlic oil from roasting the garlic to saute the garlic until just wilted and added roasted red peppers. Thanks for the recipes.

Also, keep in mind to let the garlic rest for 10 minutes before heating. This allows for the maximum amount of Allicin (the antibacterial properties from its oils) to be created so the heat sensitive enzyme is no longer needed. This helps retain garlic's amazing health benefits throughout the cooking process.
Such a good pizza!